Mr Rafael’s Cleaners

I’m about to blow a gasket.
I just moved in down the street and this place was recommended because they deliver to my building
I brought in my cleaning on Friday morning and asked if it was possible to get back Saturday night because I’m going out of town tomorrow… Of course they said no problem and of course NOTHING IS HERE! I blame myself — I should have gone to get it but I’ve been running around all day getting ready for my trip.
AND I asked on Friday if I brought something else in on Saturday AM could I get it back that day. Yes, I was told, if I got it in by 9am. Got there this morning before 9AM and of course, the truck had already left (so now we know they don’t do the cleaning on premises) so I couldn’t get same day as I had hoped.
I take some responsibility because I should have been more diligent but I don’t know — they are in the service business which I assumed (my bad) means they would honor what they said.
BAD

I live right around the corner from this place but had been walking ¾ of a mile to my regular dry cleaner. One day, in a rush, I decided to try this place out.
The first time I brought them a bunch of suiting/​dresses and everything came back on time and without damage, but had this really weird musty/​gross smell.
I figured that maybe it was a fluke and decided to use them again, this time with just 2 items. When dropping things off the second time I asked about the smell from the first time, and the guy sorta just shrugged his shoulders at my comment. On the bright side, my items came back on time and didn’t smell funny. On the negative side they ruined my favorite silk shirt but putting a large (~ 6 inches) pull across the front of it. When I came to pick the shirt up, they started to bag it and I saw the pull from across the store and mentioned it. The guy bagging the clothes said «where?!» so I pointed it out again, he had to bring the shirt over to me so I could physically point to it before he could see the pull. What irked me about it was that the pull was large, so I felt like there was a complete lack of attention to detail when dealing with clothes.
They offered (not kindly) to fix the pull, so I left the shirt there. They managed to make it look a lot better, but the shirt no longer falls properly because its silk. I know that these things happen (though I’ve had this shirt a long time and its never happened somewhere else) but I wasn’t pleased with the fact that there was no apology, and that their solution only partially fixed the problem. I also wasn’t pleased with the fact that something about my dry cleaning was off both times I have used this place. So no more second chances for them.

I’ve not really had a problem with this place. I don’t get laundry or shirts cleaned here. I primarily go to get dryclean only dress pants cleaned and to get clothes altered/​tailored.
Pants cleaned and pressed: $ 6.25 per pair
Pants tapered: $ 20
Pants cuff hemmed: $ 12
This place is a bit pricey, but average for Downtown Brooklyn/​Cobble Hill I imagine. What brings the prices to reasonable levels are the Unilocal check in discount, the Unilocal deal and various other online deals. The check in discount works multiple times, so make sure to use that.
The service is good but. when getting alterations make sure to be detailed and stern to the lady pinning and measuring you. Otherwise you will not get what you want. For example, if you want your dress slacks tapered, tell her if you want them brought in to ‘extra slim fit’ level. Otherwise, she is going to just do it her way.
The man at that works the counter is not the smiley, «how are you today», kiss your ass kind of guy. You probably don’t want to drop in on this store 5 minutes before closing time, with a complicated transaction request. You will probably get the brunt of the anger from the employees.
So if you are 1 of those Unilocalers looking for «friendly service» and him to tell you how special you are, then you probably won’t rate the service at Mr. Rafael’s highly.
But they will get your clothes clean, and they take credit cards. That’s what matters.
I recommend this place. It is my go to for dry cleaning services.

I’ve been in NY for 10 years and used a lot of dry clearners. This is by far the worst. After having 4 shirts be completely destroyed (buttons torn off or melted, holes ripped in sleeves), I called it quits.

It’s a very good store good and quick service. And it saved my life a day before a wedding I give it 5 stars. They are better then most laundromats because they’re cheap get the job done and fast my alterations were hard but it was take care of

I learned my lesson with dry cleaners and alterations people. You have to be very very specific and ask them 100 times to not make things too short. That being said, I have no complaints about Mr Rafael’s. They do the job they are supposed to and often very quickly. I needed a dress lining fixed and they did it in one day. My husband also gets all his jeans hemmed here and they reattach the original hem which not all places know how to do properly.

I really like this cleaners. They are the cheapest for laundry drop-​off in the area and I have been satisfied with the dry cleaning services. They will re-​clean any item upon request, no questions asked. Great customer service!

I’d like to leave a positive review for this place, but i’ve gone there many times and the service is truly hit or miss. My standard dry cleaner is 200 Schermerhorn, but these guys are close and i’ve gone there for alterations. The seamstress is incredibly sour faced and unfriendly, and the other staff, while polite, just don’t seem to be paying attention. they’ve «forgotten» things on multiple occassions, including forgetting to deliver things when i’ve requested delivery, forgetting to alter something («you only told us to do this one thing»). They don’t apologize when they screw up, and you leave with a sense of feeling that they are rushing and don’t care. Th eonly reason i’m not giving one star is that the actual alterations are good, and a few times i’ve done dry cleaning and that’s pretty good too. But the service is crap, and to me, that makes a big difference.

I too will not return. Tired of the poor service I receive in Bed-​Stuy (I typically avoid the dominant cleaners here-​the one on Fulton St. diagonal from Restoration Plaza), I took a few items to Mr. R’s to be altered.
The prices are the same as anywhere else. The seamstress said she was going to charge me less than the normal rates because «the owner no here. if he was here, it’d be a lot more.» She charged me $ 18 or $ 20 to remove about 4″ off the sleeves of a Gap business jacket, $ 12 to shorten the straps on a cotton dress, $ 18 to hem the same dress, $ 18, I think, to take in a skirt. I decided to fix the hem at home and paid $ 50 for all services. I knew there was no discount b/​c at least 3 others stores told me $ 18 was the cost to fix the skirt.
She, the female cashier and I chatted it up. I was fitted into each item and the clothing pinned up to mark where alterations should go. I agree to come back in a week to pick up the clothes.
I picked everything up 2 weeks later. Paid $ 50 and left. My mistake for being in a rush and not trying on every item before I left. The jacket sleeves were at lest ¾″ longer than what I wanted. The skirt had hardly been touched. I checked the seems to see if they were altered at all! I wanted at least 3″ taken in on the waist and the side seams adjusted so there was no puffiness due to the alterations. This did not happen. I have to return the skirt. The dress straps were mediocre but not worth $ 12.
Go elsewhere, even Manhattan, to alter your clothing.
Originally Posted on 09/​25/​2011